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Lipase? Storage?

I am thinking I have excess lipase. I read through the 'scalding milk' thread and I have a few Questions.
My milk coming out of the freezer smells so horrid I want to vomit, but I have left milk in the fridge for 7 days and it smelled fine.

Can you always tell by the smell or can it taste bad after being left in the fridge w/out the awful smell?

Does a lipase problem cause milk to start turning bad in both the fridge and freezer or can it just be in the freezer?
I cant tell if its a sour smell or metallic, to me it just smells awful.

Also, my son drank the yucky milk but soon after vomited everything back up. Wondering if that may mean the milk is soured?

For the ladies who have had problems with the self defrost cycle, what happened to your milk? How can you tell the difference between lipase issues and poor storage?
I guess I'll have to do some science projects.

Re: Lipase? Storage?

Originally Posted by @llli*coltonsmommy

I am thinking I have excess lipase. I read through the 'scalding milk' thread and I have a few Questions.
My milk coming out of the freezer smells so horrid I want to vomit, but I have left milk in the fridge for 7 days and it smelled fine.

Can you always tell by the smell or can it taste bad after being left in the fridge w/out the awful smell?

Does a lipase problem cause milk to start turning bad in both the fridge and freezer or can it just be in the freezer?
I cant tell if its a sour smell or metallic, to me it just smells awful.

Also, my son drank the yucky milk but soon after vomited everything back up. Wondering if that may mean the milk is soured?

For the ladies who have had problems with the self defrost cycle, what happened to your milk? How can you tell the difference between lipase issues and poor storage?
I guess I'll have to do some science projects.

I have a Colton too!

Too bad you had to make your way here because of a problem. Yes, to me, that does sound like you could have a lipase problem.

Your problem is the opposite of mine, in that my milk can stay in the freezer without scalding, but if I don't scald it before putting it in the fridge, it turns. My milk, if not scalded, doesn't smell bad, ever, but it tastes horrible after just 2 days in the fridge. Interestingly enough, if I pump and freeze mine right away, it's just fine -- too bad my LO doesn't like thawed milk (I also pump for someone else's baby, who is just fine with thawed milk).

What you are describing is typical though. Mom pumps and stores milk in the freezer. Goes to thaw it a week, two weeks, month, several months later and it smells horrible and/or tastes horrible.

It's not bad, but the enzyme lipase, which is naturally in breastmilk, is activated, and it digests all the lipids (fats), which makes the milk smell and taste off. It's not harmful, if a baby will drink it, and it's not sour -- it just smells like it is. For some women, the enzyme works super fast, in that milk, when stored, will turn in just a few hours, others a few days, and some, the milk is never stored long enough in the fridge, but frozen milk, stored for some weeks, will smell horrible when thawed.

The way to tell the difference between storage issues and lipase is to do experiments. Pump milk and split it into various bags, mark them and store them in various places (like out on the counter, in the fridge in different places, in the freezer in different places) and try scalding versus not scalding.

If you are diligent about keeping notes, you'll soon turn up a pattern and determine what works for your storage system

Re: Lipase? Storage?

I'm hoping you caught this early! I discovered that I have a lipase issue around the time Lilah turned a year old. I wish I had known sooner.

My milk turns in the freezer. I can pump milk on a Thursday and on Monday it still smells ok (if not frozen). Apparently though, it will not make it to Tuesday without turning. It has a weird smell and tastes kind of like vomit.

I wish I had known earlier, perhaps I wouldn't have had all the bottle refusal that I did.

Re: Lipase? Storage?

Originally Posted by @llli*aprilsmagic

I have a Colton too!

Too bad you had to make your way here because of a problem. Yes, to me, that does sound like you could have a lipase problem.

Your problem is the opposite of mine, in that my milk can stay in the freezer without scalding, but if I don't scald it before putting it in the fridge, it turns. My milk, if not scalded, doesn't smell bad, ever, but it tastes horrible after just 2 days in the fridge. Interestingly enough, if I pump and freeze mine right away, it's just fine -- too bad my LO doesn't like thawed milk (I also pump for someone else's baby, who is just fine with thawed milk).

What you are describing is typical though. Mom pumps and stores milk in the freezer. Goes to thaw it a week, two weeks, month, several months later and it smells horrible and/or tastes horrible.

It's not bad, but the enzyme lipase, which is naturally in breastmilk, is activated, and it digests all the lipids (fats), which makes the milk smell and taste off. It's not harmful, if a baby will drink it, and it's not sour -- it just smells like it is. For some women, the enzyme works super fast, in that milk, when stored, will turn in just a few hours, others a few days, and some, the milk is never stored long enough in the fridge, but frozen milk, stored for some weeks, will smell horrible when thawed.

The way to tell the difference between storage issues and lipase is to do experiments. Pump milk and split it into various bags, mark them and store them in various places (like out on the counter, in the fridge in different places, in the freezer in different places) and try scalding versus not scalding.

If you are diligent about keeping notes, you'll soon turn up a pattern and determine what works for your storage system

I'm sure some of the other mamas with lipase problems will pop in.

Good taste in names!
I actually found these forums before the problem. If it wasnt for this website I would have never in a million years known what was happening with my milk.
I remember reading about it thinking how awful it must be! Now look where I am!
I started experimenting, but as of now I have no results.
Thanks for your help!

Re: Lipase? Storage?

Originally Posted by @llli*mommy2lilah

I'm hoping you caught this early! I discovered that I have a lipase issue around the time Lilah turned a year old. I wish I had known sooner.

My milk turns in the freezer. I can pump milk on a Thursday and on Monday it still smells ok (if not frozen). Apparently though, it will not make it to Tuesday without turning. It has a weird smell and tastes kind of like vomit.

I wish I had known earlier, perhaps I wouldn't have had all the bottle refusal that I did.

My son is 3.5 months, so I did catch it early. He will drink it but I felt bad giving him milk that smells so bad. I had about 40oz stored. I couldnt imagine having hundreds of ounces ruined.

Re: Lipase? Storage?

My milk coming out of the freezer seems to be OK, though this go 'round I only froze a few emergency ounces. However, my milk is lost to lipase in the fridge pretty quickly (less than 24 hours) unless I scald with my bottle warmer.

Before I started scalding, the milk would have a really bad (vomit) odor and taste even worse. Though sometimes it did taste bad without an odor.